Racing the Row Tomorrow

The Cotton Row 10k is finally here!  I am pretty excited.  At some point today I've got to go to the Von Braun Center and pick up my packet.  As for the rest of the day, I may rest, consume energetic foods such as bagels and fruit and peanut butter, and think fast running thoughts.  Rest days are hard for me (especially with this calorie counting thing), but today I may relax all of that a little and just be. 

Yesterday morning I ended up waiting a little later to get in my run.  For some reason I had the hardest time waking up and 6:30 and 7:30 passed with me still lounging.  I finally made coffee and woke myself up enough to head out for a run by 8:40.  It was pretty warm out, but not too bad.  Usually in that kind of heat, I only make it 3 or 4 miles.  I can bear most hot runs for about 3 miles before it becomes too miserable.  On this morning, however, I wanted at least 6, and I knew it would be challenging.

So I decided to slow down and relax.  I decided not to fight my pace.  One thing I have realized about myself is that on most (if not all) solo runs, I usually fight the pace.  No matter what I am running, whether it is a 7:30 or an 8:45, I am fighting with it.  Trying to go faster, trying to push it a little bit more.  This is easier to do in the cooler temps because I don't have cooling off to contend with and I can push as hard as my body will go.  But as it gets warmer, all of that fighting just heats me up and I don't last very long.

That morning I decided not to fight.  I started at a nice, leisurely 9 minute pace and hung out there most of the run.  It felt SO GOOD.  I got hot, but not unbearably so, and I was able to keep going.  I managed my 6 miles, averaging an 8:57 pace by the end.  It was so nice to find a rhythm and hang out there, gliding along my neighborhood roads, thinking about this and that and enjoying the spots of shade when I found them. 

It was pleasant to relax and run, and it was a reminder that I don't have to push and fight so hard every time I step out the door in order to have a good run.  I needed that. 

So, rest day today and Cotton Row tomorrow.  Here we go...!